**A Romance, Teen Fiction, and YA Featured Novel**
Worlds collide when a formerly overweight teen befriends a blinded football player and is forced to confront her growing feelings for the boy who lost it all.
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Tay Statin had always thought a per...
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We're only three days into the semester and I'm already tired of school. As I stand in front of the mirror, I'm not sure I'm even willing to put in the effort anymore.
I sigh. Of course, I am. I can't go to school looking like a hobo.
"Honey, come down here for a second," Mom calls from downstairs. "I have something to talk to you about."
I groan. If she's heard a rumor, it was probably relayed by Miss May. Nothing in Norton Valley goes unnoticed by her. Or maybe it isn't gossip. Maybe there's bad news. Or good.
Mom's gaze is cast down at her hands as she fiddles with her crocheting needle. Nope. Definitely not good news.
"What is it?" I slow down on the stairs, my hand resting on the banister.
"Tay's family can't afford his surgery." She looks up at me, tears brimming in her eyes. "He won't be able to see again without it. His mom just told me."
Really? That explains his behavior the other night. Shouldn't his insurance have covered it, though? I know there's a possible surgery – I looked it up – but I didn't think it would cost that much. I guess I never considered the possibility that insurance won't be able to pay for all of it.
"Oh" is all I could manage. What else is there to say? It isn't like I can – wait.
"Can we hold a fundraiser?" If the community pools their money together, I have no doubt we can get enough money. The community always comes together for things like this, especially for a family as loved and respected as the Pérezes.
Mom's eyes meet mine as she sets her crocheting project down. "What?"
"A fundraiser." There was this nice fundraising idea in a show I watched a while back. Women made baskets with food and men are supposed to buy them. You could end up paying five bucks or you could end up paying fifty. Then the men would find the owner of the basket and they would have lunch together. And Tay and I haven't really talked about his date invitation yet. This would be a good opportunity. "To raise money for Tay's surgery."
Mom frowns. "I don't think Tay would -"
"He doesn't have to know," I interrupt, holding my hands up. If he knows, he'll do whatever he can to stop me. That, or he'll claim it is a pity party, and he'll be mad at me for God knows how long. "No one has to know what it's for. It can just be a fun community event."
"Well, people have to know there's some kind of purpose, hon."
"Okay, then I'll figure it out at school today. Will you help me, though?" I clasp my hands together in a pleading motion.
"Honey, I don't know how we'll get the money for it." She stands and walks up to me, adjusting the straps of my tank top.
"That's the beauty of my plan. We don't have to have any money for it. Everyone else contributes so no one person is spending a lot. I'll only have to pay for the permit to rent a gazebo at the park." I'll have to go through Travis if I want to get the permit. I swallow a sigh. I'm making plans to raise money for someone who probably won't accept it in the long run. He doesn't want to feel pitied. I know that. So, why am I doing this?
